The Perfect Brother (By Abigail)

We need a good relationship with someone who we consider as being the person we would want to follow in our Christian life. Someone, you could choose to be around a lot, almost as if he were a close sibling. For example, we take on the character traits of the one we hang around the most, and the one we pay the most attention to. We should choose someone we will like and agree with, but we also want someone who will definitely influence our walk in faith positively. We should first look at ourselves to see who we are as a Christian, and who we influence. We should then consider who we want to strive to become. There are three categories from which we can choose from whom to follow: the most popular Christian, the most thrilling Christian, and the most humble Christian.There is the most popular one. The one who knows what it takes to be an influencing example of Christ, but he lets popularity get in the way. He desperately tries to be a Christian who tells others about Jesus, but professes he is a Child of God with arrogance and a tinge of pride. Instead of emphasizing that Jesus is the One who saved him, he goes on to say that he is the one that can now get to heaven by what he himself did (accepting Christ as his personal Savior). This idea changes the meaning of Salvation, and it gives the anticipating sinner a wrong impression of the Gospel. But only a few can spot his downfall; they follow in his steps, regardless of what he says. Here we have an opportunity to see the end result, and we find out that this is the type of person we do not want to be influenced by.Another choice widely available would be the most thrilling Christian. One who has great speaking ability and can give his audience emotion and retells dramatic accounts of the Scriptures. He uses this ability to reach out to the lost. But too often we see that he is consistently forcing Christianity "down their throat." He points out the sins that others do, and he does not let anyone forget what they did wrong. The problem is that he does not point out his own sins to everyone as he does to others. Something else is that he does not even mention a hope for those who do wrong. People decide to reject everything he says, because of his pounding, grating attitude. Remember that the Bible says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with that judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." In other words, we should leave the judging part to God, and we should keep track of what we do wrong and not "worry" about the wrong things of others. We find out through this Christian that by what we say can turn others away from the Gospel.Our last example is the most humble Christian. This person often waits patiently to be noticed; He does not openly proclaim He is present. Only when we listen cautiously can we hear His still small voice. In most instances, He gets our attention by circumstances or hard times in life; but even then the majority of people never notice Him. Only When we look closely can we see the lives He turns around, the sick He heals, and those faithful witnesses He blesses. Then, only when we decide to trust in His grace, we realize that He had been knocking on the door to our heart the whole time - patiently. Here we see that Jesus Christ is the one we should follow.Jesus left behind the best example of the Christian walk, better than anyone else would be able to be. Though other Christians may seem to be pretty good examples, there is always something that will bog them down. We may not know exactly how to act in a particular situation or what to say at a given time; but if we ground ourselves in the Scriptures, we will be influenced incredibly. We now know who we should choose, but we should consider if we are a good example for those around us or not. Are we the proud Christian, or the misleading Christian? Or are we truly striving to be a picture of who Savior is, the Perfect Brother?Written by: Abigail Shelby